The Ferguson Township Board of Supervisors passed a motion to send the rezoning request of Circleville Farm to the planning commission for further review.
The request was submitted by John Melham, president of Melham Associates, consultants employed by Lezzer/Haubert Partnership, which bought the land in November.
Melham said the proposal was to rezone the land from R-A, rural agriculture, to R-1 residential.
Township Manager Mark Kunkle said much more will have to take place before the land would be rezoned; last night's motion would only send the proposal for further research.
"No official action to change the zoning of Circleville Farm will be made until there is an ordinance and a public hearing takes place," he said.
Melham said the intent of a rural agriculture zone, according to the township's own guidelines, is to promote and protect agricultural land in ways that wouldn't ruin the soil and protect prime cropland. He said Circleville Farm is surrounded by residential areas and has sewer, water and electricity already.
"The Circleville tract is quite honestly an island of R-A zone," he said. "The surrounding environment is clearly not rural; it's suburban."
Melham said that the intent of a residential zone is to provide low-density housing and protect residential areas from changes that may cause deterioration.
Melham said Lezzer/Haubert would also be requesting a Planned Residential Development (PRD) in addition to the rezoning request, if it passes. The PRD would be a supplement to the zoning so developers could be able to change the density of the houses throughout the land.
Dan Sieminski, Penn State assistant vice president for finance and business, said the agreement between Penn State and Lezzer/Haubert states that certain parts of Circleville must be kept environmentally secure from development.
To maintain the agreement, the PRD was suggested by Lezzer/Haubert to separate the land into denser areas, such as townhouses, and less dense areas, such as single-family homes, instead of being restricted to one house per 10,000 square feet, which is normal R-1 zoning.
The request came in front of the board and an audience of about 60 people. The main concern of the board was that the land would be rezoned to an R-1, but Lezzer/Haubert would walk away from the sale. The township would then lose control of how the land was developed.
The sale may fall through because of a discrepancy with Penn State or because Lezzer/Haubert couldn't come to an agreement on a PRD with the township.
"Overall, we all want to see the best use of this property," he said. "If we agree to rezone, no matter what is promised, once rezoned, [Lezzer/Hauber] is not held to that in any way," committee member Richard Killian said.
Killian was the only member to vote against the motion.
Member George Pytel asked Melham if they would rezone to an R-1B, which would allow for only half as many houses as an R-1, as insurance that a PRD would be requested.
"If you want a PRD, you can put one on a R-1B. Why not request this?" he said.
About five to 10 residents spoke of their concern at the meeting.
John Liechty, 644 Brookshire Dr., said he hoped to see how the land would be used and urged the board to look into the matter more fully before they came to a decision.
"I personally feel that the governing principle is preservation and taking care of our community," he said. "Zoning is the only tool we have as a collective community to control the use of the land,"
Riley Tripp, 726 Devonshire Dr., said that opening up Circleville adds pressure to the infrastructure of the township and that because residential areas surround the land doesn't mean Circleville should also become residential.
"You could use the same argument to go tell New York City to rezone Central Park," he said
